Emergency transport vehicles, such as ambulances, typically include a dedicated seat that is used for performing a medical procedure, such as an intubation procedure, on a patient. Referring to FIG. 1, an interior portion 10 of an ambulance is shown which depicts a dedicated seat 12 used for performing an intubation or other medical procedure. The seat 12 is located behind, or opposite, a head-end 14 of a patient stretcher 16. The seat 16 locates medical personnel, such as a physician or paramedic, in a preferred position that is in-line with a patient's longitudinal body axis so that a safe and successful intubation of the patient is performed. For purposes of illustration, a patient's longitudinal body axis corresponds to stretcher axis 17.
Referring to FIG. 2, an interior portion 12 of an ambulance configured as a mobile stroke unit (MSU) is shown. In this configuration, the space behind, or opposite, the head-end 14 of the stretcher 16 is occupied instead by medical equipment such as computed tomography (CT) scanner 18. Thus, space for a head-sided seat 14, such as in a conventional ambulance (see FIG. 1), is not available. As a result, medical personnel must employ workaround solutions to perform an intubation such as either standing or kneeling in between the stretcher 16 and the CT scanner 18 or using a seat or bench that is parallel to the stretcher 16 (i.e. parallel to the stretcher axis 17). However, both solutions are not desirable because a paramedic's ability to position themselves in-line with the stretcher axis 17 and thus with the patient's longitudinal body axis is substantially impaired or not possible, thus compromising the ability to provide a safe and successful intubation of the patient.